Avatar: Adventures of a Metalworker
by weezerz2490
Summary: When Shun, a skilled, talented, and very young metalworker crosses paths with a Zuko and his uncle Iroh, her destiny changes in a way that she never expected.


Author's note: Just a heads up, but I haven't seen Legend of Korra, and I may end up warping the cannon a bit. I'll try not to make anyone too OOC, though. There is a link to a picture of my OC on my profile if you want to take a look after you're done reading. Thanks, I hope you enjoy it!  
I own nothing but my OC.

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**Chapter 1: A Helpful Stranger**

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In an abandoned town in the Earth Kingdom, Azula found herself cornered.

"Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together." She said cynically. Not only was she facing the Avatar and his companions, but her uncle and brother were there as well. "I'm done. I know when I'm beaten." She put her hands in the air as if she was giving up. "You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."

Iroh raised an eyebrow skeptically at this, but then something he saw out the corner of his eye seemed to distract him. He had just noticed the little girl he had shared some tea with earlier was there with the Avatar. Azula seized the moment and used it to her advantage, quickly firing a burst of blue flame, hitting the old man in chest. The force of the blow sent Iroh wheeling back. Zuko's eyes widened in horror as he watched his uncle fall to the ground.

"Ahh!" He yelled as he turned back to face his sister, shooting a jet of fire back at her in retaliation as the others also attacked.

Azula quickly created a swirling sphere of blue flames around herself to block the four different elements coming at her, resulting in an explosion. When the smoke cleared, she was gone. Zuko didn't waste any time and immediately rushed to his wounded uncle's side. Iroh was unconscious. The burn looked severe. Zuko heard the others start to approach them. "Get away from us!" He yelled, stopping them in their tracks. His face was twisted with anger and frustration. Toph was worried, she could feel that something was wrong with the old man's breathing.

"Zuko, I can help." Katara said earnestly.

"Leave!" Zuko shouted fiercely, sending out a ripple of fire as he waved his arm at them. Fortunately, they managed to duck in time. They decided to take the hint and go before Zuko really let them have it. All alone, Zuko stared down at his injured uncle as the town burned around them, wracked with guilt.

He heard some approaching again.

"I said leave!" He yelled, firing a burst of flames at the unwanted visitor. His eyes widened slightly in surprise when he realized it wasn't who he had thought it was.

"Whoa!" The girl exclaimed in surprise as she quickly side-stepped his attack. "Chill out, man! I just thought it looked like you could use some help."

"I don't want your help!" He snapped. Who did this girl think she was, butting into his business like this? She was just a kid! What could she possibly do?

"Well, too bad." She told him. "Because you're getting it."

Zuko was taken aback by her blunt response. He just shot fire at her. It should be obvious he was a firebender, yet she seemed determined to help him. Wasn't she scared? Wasn't she angry?

"In case you haven't noticed," The girl continued as she walked over to a pile of rubble to pull out two planks of wood, "this place is turning into an inferno." He watched as she dug around in woollypig-skin bag and pulled out a tarp and some rope. "You need to get out of here before you get trapped in here, and that old man looks too heave for you to drag out of here on your own." She said, tying the tarp to the wooden planks to make a stretcher with amazingly fast and dexterous hands. "So let's go." She told Zuko, looking him in the eye with a steady gaze.

Zuko bit his lip. This girl was right. He needed to get his uncle out of there.

Together, they managed to shift the injured man onto the makeshift stretcher and carried him out of the burning town. They made it out without a moment to spare, escaping just in nick time. But they didn't stop. They kept going until they felt they were a safe distance away. Fortunately, the abandoned town was in the middle of a patch of dry and barren land, so it wouldn't spread any farther.

"A-ah." The girl let out a sigh, plopping herself on the ground after they set the stretcher down to rest. "Just when I finally worked up the courage to go see it…"

"See what?" Zuko asked as he carefully opened his uncle's shirt to examine his wound. It looked really painful. He needed to do something…

"That town." She replied, opening up her bag to dig inside of it again. "It used to be called Tu Zin. I heard it was the place where I was born." She explained as she handed him her first aid kit. Since he was so touchy and protective, she figured he'd rather do it himself.

"Oh." Zuko said. He didn't really know what else to say, but one thing was for sure, this girl was turning out to be a lot handier to have around than he had expected. Not only did she have clean bandages, but she also had a jar of a really good healing salve for burns. "… Why did you help us?" He asked as he tended to his uncle's wound.

"Do you need a reason to help someone?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "I wanted to, so I did. There a problem with that?"

"But we're Fire Nation."

"So what?" She said calmly, surprising him. Zuko turned and looked at her. "People are people. There's good and bad in all of us. It's not like all firebenders are evil, right?" Zuko looked down. "Plus, us renegades have to stick together." She added with a Cheshire cat grin.

"What_!_?" Zuko said, flinching in shock. "You know who I am?"

"Of course. I've seen your wanted poster often enough." She replied matter-of-factly. She liked to check the sign posts every now and then. It was her way of keeping score. "You might have changed your hairstyle, but your scar is pretty distinctive." She added, causing him to cover it, feeling a little self-conscious. "And before you ask," She said when he opened his mouth to speak again. No, I'm not after the reward. If I was, I wouldn't have pointed out that I knew who you were. Besides, if I tried to turn you in, I'd probably get caught myself. I'm Shun Yi."

"Well, what are you wanted for?" Zuko asked, a little curious despite himself. The name didn't really ring a bell. "I mean, you're just a kid."

"I'm _thirteen_, thank you very much." Shun replied a bit saucily. "And I'm kind of wanted for sabotaging Fire Nation weapon supply runs. You see, I have a bad habit of blowing them up whenever I see them." She explained nonchalantly with a shrug. Just the stuff, not the people.

'I think I picked up something really strange…' Zuko thought, chagrined.


End file.
